Over 3,700 complaints have been made against primary healthcare clinics in Bangkok, alerting the National Health Security Office (NHSO) to set up an investigative panel to examine the claims of improper practices.
The NHSO on Monday released a statement regarding its efforts to deal with the complaints from patients under the 30 baht universal healthcare scheme.
The complaints were made after the office decided to adjust the universal healthcare service in Bangkok in an attempt to reduce the number of patients in hospitals.
Dr Suphan Srithamma, chairman of the committee on quality and standard control for public health service, said that the NHSO is to establish a fact-finding team to investigate the case, adding that the office has a clear principle that the service recipients should be able to access the service with convenience according to the health security office law.
The result of the finding will be forwarded to the committee's consideration, he said.
"We could not provide any further comment on the case. All explanations will be made by the NHSO's chief to prevent any misunderstandings," he said.
The NHSO launched its OP Anywhere policy in 2022, allowing universal healthcare cardholders to access outpatient medical services at any hospital in the country in case of emergency.
The office, however, recently adjusted the regulation, requiring its members to seek medical treatment at a primary healthcare clinic before being transferred to the hospital if needed.
According to data collected from Feb 27-April 23, there were 3,771 complaints involving the primary healthcare scheme.
Of them, 3,020 cases were against the primary clinics, 462 against transferred hospitals and 289 against public health centres.
The most complained-about issues were the clinic's rejection of patients' requests for transfers to hospitals, difficulties in issuing transfer documents for the patients and failure to transfer the patients to hospitals where they were already registered.
The 30-baht healthcare scheme is likely to face a huge challenge in the capital, due to a very limited number of hospitals for granting the service to the healthcare card holders, a source said.
Meanwhile, many private-owned hospitals have already refused to cooperate with or continue cooperating with the project, citing insufficient resources and manpower as the reason.